When we examine the activity of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, we find that they are approving a few exploratory wells in South Arkansas, and much fewer in the gas rich northern district of the Arkoma and Fayetteville Shale. What I do see is Merit and others attempting to delay plugging and abandoning certain low producing or… Read More »

Impossible It is a simple truth that some things are simply impossible no matter what some inspirational poster might say. You are not going roller skating on an active lava flow. And the idea that magically in a decade or two, we can convert the entire grid to electricity, all cars will be electric and there is no… Read More »

The climate alarmists conspiracy to globalize and control all climate discussion is heating up as pseudo-scientists claim to be able to see the future 80 years in advance.  Only an idiot would claim that a model – a hypothesis if you will – is “science”.  Science has to be falsifiable (Karl Popper) and testable. You cannot claim science… Read More »

Listening to Agritalk dot com and they have two energy themes day after day. Natural gas is “too high” and “ethanol is clean and low carbon”. Neither proposition is supported by facts. Natural gas was over $2 per MCF FORTY YEARS AGO…adjusted for inflation, that means natural gas, ignoring the much greater cost of fracking, for simple time… Read More »

Let me disabuse you of a notion. Cheap gasoline isn’t going to “hurt” renewables. No renewable is really standing on its own. It is directly subsidized unlike drilling for oil or even refining…Depletion Allowance is not a “subsidy” for big oil. It is simple depreciation. Grandma pays taxes on her mineral rights and the only deduction she gets… Read More »

2020 was a rough year for the oil business. The bloated natural gas production associated with attempting to extract oil from wells better defined as gas wells created a glut of natural gas while making the nation a net exporter of oil.  That disappeared into the abyss when gas prices in west Texas collapsed into negative territory followed… Read More »

There is a weird but fundamental relationship between politics and oil. The Democrats hate oil and believe that it should basically be eliminated permanently in favor of ‘green’ energy (whatever that is.) The Republicans promote the oil business as necessary and vital to the economy. Yet the industry often benefits from Democratic policies while Republican policies often end… Read More »

We have such a glut in natural gas I do not see a return to the prices of fifteen years ago. Oil, on the other hand, will necessarily be in high demand. With the so-called “Tier 1” acreage being oil doesn’t mean it is all oil. From my calculus for a number of wells, it seems that these… Read More »

What does Biden promise the oil business? It is hard to say explicitly since he talks out of both sides of his mouth. He said he’d ban fracking. In debate with Trump, he denied it, challenging Trump to prove it. So Trump did, and posted his exact words. Biden otherwise claimed a slow “transition” away from oil and… Read More »

The Public Trust Doctrine was an issue the Nevada Supreme Court recently adjudicated. Had it succeeded every mineral owner and every person who holds water rights or even has a water well, could have been at risk.   But it can be expected in the future that we see more legal challenges to the ownership of water rights,… Read More »